Method of and apparatus for making suppository packages



March 17, 1964 J. 1.. ARCUDI ETAL 3,124,913

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING SUPPOSITORY PACKAGES Filed Oct. 6, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 a I INVENTORS. R Josey/L L .A' rczpdz E duw zif fi By ATTORNEY March 17, 1964 J. L. ARCUD] ETAL 3,124,913

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING SUPPOSITORY PACKAGES Filed Oct. 6, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 n m I mmvroxs: faszpk 11A m 2442' b lzlu arzlfzgj,

% ATTORNEY March 17, 1964 .1. ARCUDI ETAL 3,124,913

METHOD'*OF".A ND APPARATUS FOR MAKING SUPPOSITORY PACKAGES Filed Oct. 6, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS.

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H Eduard] Dal id J i AT TORNEY United States Patent Oil-ice 3,124,913 Patented Mar. 17, 1964 3,124,913 METHOD OF in: APPARATUS Eon MAKING surrosrroar PACKAGES This invention relates in general to the art of packaging, and particularly, the invention is concerned with the packaging of articles of the nature of pills, suppositories, tablets or the like.

According to the generally known methods of making packages of this character, opposed layers of relatively thin packaging material such as aluminum foil are sealed together in certain zones which form the boundaries of a compartment or chamber between the layers in which fluent material for the formation of the pills, suppositories, tablets or the like is inserted, after which the compartment is completely sealed.

One object of the present invention is to provide a method of and apparatus for making a suppository package or the like wherein the package is initially formed in sections, each having a portion of the compartment complemental to the compartment portion of another section, and the sections are individually filled with the material to be packaged, whereafter the two sections are sealed together to form a complete package in a relatively inexpensive and effective manner.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus of this character which shall include a novel and improved construction and combination of mechanism for forming the package sections, means for filling the sections, means for cooling the material being packaged in the sections, and means for sealing the package sections together, whereby a package can be produced efliciently and at low cost.

Other objects, advantages and results of the invention will be brought out by the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which FIGURE 1 is a schematic front elevation of an apparatus or machine for making packages in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the machine;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevation, with portions broken away and shown in section, of one end portion of the machine;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged vertical section on the plane of the line 44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view approximately on the plane of the line 5-5 of FIGURE 2 with portions omitted for clearness in illustration; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a completed package.

Specifically describing the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the reference character A designates the frame or table of an apparatus or machine which has thereon support brackets B on which rolls C of strips of ductile packaging material, for example, aluminum, are journaled for rotation about spindles D so that the strips 1 and 2 of the packaging material can be simultaneously withdrawn from their respective rolls, each through die mechanism E which form the recesses for the packaging compartments, and thence between identical sealing rolls F, where the strips 1 and 2 are sealed together to partially form the packages preparatory to the filling and final sealing or closing of the packages. The abutting surfaces of the strips are thermoplastic or coated with thermoplastic material.

The die mechanisms may be of any suitable construction, but each is shown as comprising a bed die I fixedly mounted on the frame A, and a head die K that is reciprocal toward and from the bed die by a suitable power unit such as a reciprocating pneumatic motor L on the piston rod M of which the head die is mounted. In the present instance, the bed die I has at least one recess 4 with which cooperates a boss 5 on the head die (see FIGURE 3). Obviously, as each head die is moved into contact wth the bed die with the strip of packaging material between them under tension and in contact with the head die as shown in FIGURE 1, recesses 6 are simultaneously formed in the two strips 1 and 2, the tension of the strips serving to withdraw the strips from the bed dies. Each recess in strip 1 is complemental to a recess of the other strip to form a complete package compartment when the strips are brought into contact with each other with the concave side of the recess of one strip facing the concave side of the recess of the other strip, and obviously, the recesses may be of any shape that will produce a package of the desired configuration.

The two strips 1 and 2 are withdrawn from the rolls C with an intermittent or step-by-step motion in timed relation to the reciprocation of the head dies. The pulling of the strips from the rolls is shown as eifected by the sealing rolls F each of which has a shaft G journaled in bearings & and 9 on a superstructure N of the frame A, springs 3a and 9a being provided to cause the rolls to yieldingly grip the strips between them. Each roll has a plurality of cavities it in its periphery to receive the protuberances on the corresponding strip 1 or 2 produced by the formation of the recesses in the strips, the spacing of the cavities, of course, corresponding to the spacing of the recesses 6.

On each of the shaft G is fixed a ratchet disc 11 with which cooperates one end of a pawl 12 which is pivotally mounted at its other end as indicated at 13 on an actuating slide 14. The slide is shown as having a slot 15 through which extends a guide block 16 that is fixedly mounted on a frame superstructure N, and the slide is shown as reciprocated by a connecting rod 17 which is pivotally connected at one end at 18 to the slide and is connected at its other end to a crank pin 19 of the takeoif shaft 2%) of a speed reducing gear mechanism 21, the input shaft of which has a belt and pulley connection 22 with an electric motor 23. The pawls 12 are normally biased into engagement with the corresponding ratchet disc by a compression spring 24 interposed between the two pawls, and with this construction, it will be understood that upon starting of the motor 23, for example, by a manually controlled switch, the slide 14 will be reciprocated and the sealing rolls will be rotated in opposite directions step-by-step by coaction of the pawls 12 and ratchet discs, and thereby the strips 1 and 2 of packaging material will be moved step-by-step between the sealing rolls. Each recess is formed to hold a portion, for example, one-half, of the quantity of material to be enclosed in each package compartment, and, as hereinafter described, the material is deposited in the recesses before the-strips of packaging material are passed between the sealing rolls and sealed together in zones surrounding the compartments formed by the juxtaposed recesses of the two strips to complete the packages H. Each sealing roll has a circumferential sealing area 25 bounding the recesses for effecting the sealing operation. Thus each completed package comprises two sections 1a and 2a of the respective strips 1 and 2, sealed together in zones which are preferably crimped, bounding a compartment I that contains a quantity of the material that is being packaged.

Mechanism for depositing the material to be packaged in the recesses 6 is shown for the purposes of illustration as comprising a hopper O in which the material in powdered or granular form is dumped from a suitable source of supply, and below the hopper is a container P with which is associated a suitable heater such as an electric heater Q of known construction for melting the granular material into semi-liquid, fluent condition. The lower end of the container has an outlet nozzle R to which the fluent material is supplied in pre-determined quantities 27 by a suitable valve mechanism which is shown for illustrative purposes as comprising a conical valve head T that is cooperative with a seat S in the container and is carried by one end of a lever U which is normally biased by spring V upwardly in FIGURE 3 to move the valve into closed position and is moved downwardly in timed relation to the head die K by an arm W mounted on the head die and engageable with the lever U upon downward movement of the head die to open the valve. The lever U is pivotally mounted at 31 on the exterior of the container and extends loosely through a hole 32 in the container, leakage through which is prevented by a flexible seal 33. The nozzle R has a discharge opening 26 through which the molten material is deposited into the recesses 6 in timed relation to the movement of the packaging strips by the sealing rolls F and, of course, in timed relation to the movement of the head die K.

After deposit of the pre-determined quantities 27 of the material into the recesses, each strip carrying the packaging material moves through a cooling chamber X to which cooling gas such as air is supplied from a suitable source by a pipe 28 and passes out of the chamber through the openings Y through which the strips 1 and 2 move into and out of the chamber. The molten material in the recesses 6 is cooled and hardened in the chamber X and adheres to the surfaces of the recesses 6, and continued movement of the packaging strips carries the recesses with the hardened material therein around the sealing rolls as best shown in FIGURE so that one recess of each strip becomes juxtaposed to a recess of the other strip and the strips are sealed together to provide the sealed zones 3 in bounding relation to the completed compartments J.

The rolls F are heated in any suitable manner, for example, by electric heaters 30 of generally known construction that are connected in circuit with a source of electricity in known manner, the temperature of the rollers being suflicient to fuse the earlier cooled and hardened portions 27 and to cause said fused portion in each recess to adhere to or become merged into the portion of the material in the corresponding recess to produce an integral or one-piece or unitary body 31 for the material as shown, for example, in FIGURE 5, in the form of a pill, suppository, tablet or the like, depending upon the shape and size of the recesses 6. The hardened body 31 can be removed from the package by tearing the layers of packaging material transversely or by peeling the layers apart where the seal permits.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the construction of the machine has been shown only schematically and that the structural details may be widely modified and changed within the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. The method of making material-containing packages consisting of moving two strips of ductile packaging material linearly in a horizontal plane, forming identical recesses in equidistantly spaced apart relation in each of said strips of ductile material, depositing in each recess heated flowable material that hardens upon cooling, causing the strips with the material therein to pass through a cooling atmosphere to cool and harden the material in each recess, bringing said strips into contact with each other with the recess of each strip and the hardened material therein facing a recess of the other strip and the hardened material therein, and sealing the strips together in a zone bounding said recesses thereby forming a package compartment containing said material.

2. Apparatus for ma king material-containing packages comprising a frame, means for forming identical recesses in equi-distantly spaced apart relation in each of two flexible thin strips of ductile material, a pair of sealing rolls journalled in said frame rotatable step-by-step in opposite directions receiving and moving said strips between them with one recess of each strip facing a recess of the other strip, each sealing roll having circumferentially spaced cavities to provide clearance for the protuberances formed by said recesses in the strips, means for yieldingly biasing the rolls toward each other to press the strips between them, and material-depositing means between the first-mentioned means and said rolls for depositing in flowable condition in each of said recesses a pre-determined quantity of the material being packaged, means between said material-depositing means and said rolls for cooling and hardening the fiowable material in said recesses, said rolls having circumferential sealing areas surrounding said cavities to seal said flexible thin strips together in zones surrounding said recesses of the strips thereby forming packaging compartments containing said material, and means for heating said sealing rolls to fuse the material in said recesses as the strips of packaging material are sealed together between said rolls.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein the material-depositing means includes a heater for maintaining the material to be packaged in molten fluid condition, and with the addition of valve means actuated in timed relation to the movement of said sealing rolls for controlling the depositing of said material into said recesses.

4. Apparatus for making material-containing packages comprising a frame, means on said frame for forming identical recesses in equi-distantly spaced apart relation in each of two flexible thin strips of ductile heat-scalable material, means for moving said strips in a horizontal plane with said recesses facing upwardly and including coacting elements and means for heating them for pressing and sealing said strips together with one recess of each strip facing a recess of the other strip to form compartments for the material being packaged, means for depositing into each recess flowable molten material that hardens upon cooling, means for cooling said material and said strips to harden said material in said recesses prior to movement of said strips into opposed contact with each other and sealing of the strips together, and said coacting elements also heating the strips and the material in said compartments to fuse the material in the corresponding recesses to a unitary body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,031,853 Potts Feb. 25, 1936 2,192,675 Ferentzy Mar. 5, 1940 2,497,212 Donofrio Feb. 14, 1950 2,505,603 Branden-berger Apr. 25, 1950 2,660,843 Rety Dec. 1, 1953 2,663,129 Donofrio Dec. 22, 1953 

1. THE METHOD OF MAKING MATERIAL-CONTAINING PACKAGES CONSISTING OF MOVING TWO STRIPS OF DUCTILE PACKAGING MATERIAL LINEARLY IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE, FORMING IDENTICAL RECESSES IN EQUIDISTANTLY SPACED APART RELATION IN EACH OF SAID STRIPS OF DUCTILE MATERIAL, DEPOSITING IN EACH RECESS HEATED FLOWABLE MATERIAL THAT HARDENS UPON COOLING, CAUSING THE STRIPS WITH THE MATERIAL THEREIN TO PASS THROUGH A COOLING ATMOSPHERE TO COOL AND HARDEN THE MA- 